Fire immediately or wait until you find a replacement?

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both

Here’s a situation: You’ve decided to fire an employee. Now you’ve two choices -

1. Fire immediately and then look for a replacement.
2. Find a replacement before you fire.

What will you choose?

It’s tricky. I asked my counterparts who are leading a team (in my organization and outside) on how they’d react to this situation. To my surprise, most of them said they’d try to find a replacement before firing. They said it’s ‘safe.’ Two main reasons why they don’t want to go with option-1:

1. It’ll add additional burden on other team members
2. A deadline might get pushed

On the surface, it does sound reasonable to many. But, I feel it’s more ‘defensive’ than ‘safe.’ Let me explain.

Hiring is tough. Firing is tougher

No good organization ever said that they hire average people. From an early stage startup to the biggest players in the industry, everyone hires the bright and brilliant.

Not every hire will go on to become a great employee.

If you were ever involved in the hiring process, you’d know how difficult is it to find the right candidate. Hiring is tough. You probably pat yourself on the back after finding the ideal candidate. Imagine, from this to having to decide on firing the same person. See, firing is tougher.

Not every hire will go on to become a great employee. It might be a cultural mismatch, or the employee’s inability to perform well despite several opportunities. You have your reasons.

After what is seemingly a tough decision, comes the tricky part — whether to fire immediately or wait till you find a replacement.

I’d always, always go with option-1: fire immediately and then hire a replacement. There’s a flaw with the ‘safe’ approach:

• If the employee’s performance is the issue, it’s bad for your product. The deadlines will be pushed regardless.
• Carrying an under-performer means more time spent on reviewing and fixing their mistakes. Your team is already bearing the extra burden. They just don’t realize it.
• If the reason for firing someone is a cultural mismatch or bad conduct, you’d want to stop it from spreading immediately.

Trying to hire a replacement before firing has its disadvantages too.

• Your hiring will get affected. You’ll be in a rush to hire a replacement, and that won’t help.
• Imagine how your team members will react if you suddenly publish a job opening for a team that seemed to be content with the resources. What will you tell your team members?

Your team members will not get it right away. They might complain about the ‘one less resource.’ That’s fine. You’ll learn to deal with it. Just believe in your decision, there is no point in delaying the inevitable.

Yes, it won’t be a popular choice. But, it’s the right one.

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I —
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.